A Dream World for Tiny Tots...

Brightly painted walls in blue and yellow, cartoon images, toys, a huge LCD TV, music systems and smiling faces… From where can you expect all this? Don’t try to guess, you are sure to go wrong. The name board tells you that you are in “Milestones” but this is a name you will least expect for a clinic meant for children. But yes… in a glance these are sure to catch your attention in Dr. Anand’s clinic for children in Kakkanad, Cochin. Dr. Anand is sure to have done a lot of home work before coming up with this idea. His expertise in the field reflects in the settings that he has created to woo children. Usually in clinics for children, a lot of whining and screaming take place. But here the scenario is different. The laughter of innocent minds itself is a testimony for this. Surely a different place, I thought. 

The pathway to ‘Milestones’ are filled with cartoon characters that capture your attention all the way up to the clinic. Once inside, we feel all charged up and fresh. That’s the kind of ambience Milestones provide. The notice board, “Milestone Masalas”, is worth taking note of.  The board contains paintings by small children and they are neatly pinned up. On seeing our doubting faces, Dr. Anand came up with the answer with a smiling face. “Usually in clinics children get bored. To ward off their boredom, painting is a solution. Children love to paint and when their creations are displayed, it makes them proud which will inspire them to do productive things in future.” One corner of the room has floors with a foam mat where toys are kept. The floor has images of the heroes and heroines of children like Snow White, Rose Red, Cindrella, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and toys like Winnie-the Pooh, Scooby Doo, Tweety, Teddy Bears and many more stuffed toys which I know not, were kept in the corner. He mentioned that the toys were specially selected and that children would be absolutely safe playing with them.  Way to go Doctor…

Hey… the adventures are not done with. Dr. Anand took us through each and every facility that his clinic provides. The room, where injections are taken- a room where usually the screaming happens- is hardly a room that makes you cry. The latest hit of the time ‘Kolaveri’ played in the lap top diverts children’s attention and while immersed in the song the doctor gets ample time to inject the medicine or take blood for medication or whatever. Technology helps a lot, says the Doctor. He took us to the consulting room and for a minute we thought that we are in some kindergarten and not in a clinic. The first thing I noticed is the ‘Tweety clock’ on the wall. The ‘hanging fishes’ danced in the gentle breeze that came in through the windows. All were imported, he said. Next he showed us the BP apparatus with a ‘teddy’ hand bulb. Even the thermometer looked like a play thing and it was hard to imagine that all those were real instruments and not toys for children. In between he pointed towards a cylindrical hollow structure in a stand. He challenged us to guess what that is and we tried hard but we did not reach any close to the right option, the fan!! Yes…it was a leafless fan made in China.

Heading on with the conversation, Dr. PSS Thampi, Deputy Director,Publicity, Spices Board opened up his mind as to why we were there. Actually there is no much connection with Public Relations and a clinic for children. But here we are the team of three, Revathy, Dhanya and Aneena from the Publicity section of Spices Board India, together with Dr PSS Thampi in Milestones, a clinic for children. Actually it was to get guidance from Dr Anand to develop Anganawadis to state-of-art organizations. Spices Board has plans to take up Anganawadis in remote areas of Kerala and Karnataka. So to get expert guidance from a doctor who is into the field is the best thing that could be done as the first step into the venture. The doctor who has innovative ideas to bring in cartoon characters to even the ceiling fans will be able to understand the needs of the children better than anybody else.

Revathy